Unexpected Happenings
by The Last Time Lord
Summary: She came to him distressed, but what she told him was the last thing he expected to hear.


Unexpected Happenings  
~ The Last Time Lord

**A/N: This happened because of a tumblr prompt from my good friend apinkandyellowgirl. The prompt was my character (Nine, a.k.a. Eccleston's Doctor) responding to a declaration of love from the prompter, in this case: Rose. Enjoy! I sadly don't own Doctor Who. Wish I did, though.**

They had been drifting in deep space for a few days, in order to let the TARDIS recharge. Everything was going normally, or at least it had been until a very unnerved and seemingly torn Rose had entered the console room while he had been tinkering. He had sensed more than seen her enter immediately (over the course of their travels he's just developed a sort of Rose-sensor. It hadn't always been it immediate, even though it was practically a seventh sense now) and he could also sense that something was wrong. His head popped up from the hole in the grating, and turned towards his pink and yellow girl. Her posture and body language only confirmed what his gut had been telling him. He didn't like this. Fear and concern waged war internally, but he only let the concern bubble to the surface. "Rose," he said as he climbed out from the depths of the TARDIS and faced her. "Wha' is it? Wha's wrong?"

She looked up at him, her eyes expressing so much: vulnerability, hope, trepidation, fear, resignation. "Doctor," she began, and she sounded almost sad. Alarm bells were going off in his head. What in the entire Universe could cause all these emotions to surface at the same time? He felt his insides knot. Could she be leaving him? Had something happened back on Earth to Jackie? To Ricky? Her gaze was fixed on the metal grating. "I… I jus' can't.." She looked annoyed with herself, as though this wasn't going as per her plan. His hearts sunk. He had a feeling he knew how this was going, so many before her had left the same way. He steeled himself, but hid it because he was concerned about her and he hated seeing Rose in such a state. He moved closer to her and gently held her by her shoulders, and he bent so he look into her eyes. "Wha's the matter, Rose?"

She looked up at him, her previous turmoil erased from her gaze to be replaced by an irrevocable resolve and determination that was specific to his precious girl.

"I love you, Doctor." She declared, her voice sincere and full of emotion, yet strong.

The Doctor was stunned speechless, to the point where even his mind stopped buzzing completely, and even his heartsbeats slowed. Out of all of the possibilities he had expected to hear from her, this one hadn't even crossed his mind.

A moment passed.

By the end of several minutes, his mind had only started to recover from the shock and process what had just occurred, but Rose's bravado had faded and she was anxious now, worrying her lip with her teeth.

Several more moments passed.

He continued to stand statue-still, shock painted all over his face. Rose was downright terrified by now, if her expression was anything to go by.

"Say somethin', Doctor, _please_…" She asked. Her eyes were watering. His mind and his hearts were at war, not to mention the flood of emotions that were duking it out. He wanted to tell her, but could not will his mouth to open, to get his vocal chords to work nor his tongue to move.

When he continued to remain stunned and silent before her, despite her plea for him to answer, she ran off, obviously upset. It had been when he had seen her take a turn at the end of the hall and disappear down a corridor that snapped him out of his stupor.

"_Idiot_!" He cursed to himself. Here was a hope coming true and he was mucking it up big time, letting his only chance slip though his fingers. "ROSE - _WAIT_!" He yelled as he took off at a sprint after her, desperation and the hope that he hadn't messed things up too bad fueling him to run faster than he probably ever had before in his life. He didn't want to lose her.

Since his strides were longer, he caught up to her just as she reached the end of the hallway. He grabbed her wrist as he came to a stop, breaking her momentum and making her stop as well. She spun towards him. He didn't waste any more time. She needed to know. No sooner had she whipped around to face him had he pulled her to him and kissed her.

He kissed with all the love he felt for her, kissed her as though his very life depended on her being there. He kissed her desperately, because now that he knew she loved him, he could not bear to let her get away. He feared what it would do to his hearts. _Rasillon_, how he loved her, this precious pink and yellow girl - _his_ precious pink and yellow girl - that had saved him from so much, who was so fantastic.

He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you, too, my precious girl."

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. The feedback you provide is butter to the bread of my writing. **


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